Gate-operating mechanism.



J. C. HERRMANN.

GATE OPERATING MECHANISM.

APPLKCATION mm JULY 30. m0.-

Patented Apr. 1, 1919.

INVENTOR A)? A6 6, 9%77/20/1M gdfi ATTORNEY i of Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee JOSEPH C. HERRMANN, OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN.

' en rn-ornnnrnve MECHANISM.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH C. HnnnMANn, a'citizen of the United States, and resident and State of Wisconsin, have invented cer tain new anduseful Improvements in Gate- Operating Mechanism; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and

exact description thereof.

a My present invention relates to. new and useful improvements in means operable from a remote point for opening and closing gates particularly of that type known as farm gates, my improvedoperating means being more particularly of that class adapted for procuring vertical swinging movements of thegate, in opening and closing the same.

It is primarily the object of my present invention'to provide a gate operating mechi anism meeting the essential requirements of a commerclally practical device, among which'requirements may be noted: simplicity, strength and lightness of structure, readinessof o eration in either opening or closing movement, and operative efficiency under adverse weather conditions.

A'great' many, if not the vast majority of contemplated gate operating mechanisms involvinga vertical swinging movement of the gate have failed to take cognizance of the effect of lateralwind pressure upon the gate, either at rest in raised position, or in .rnovement toward and away from raised position. Inasmuch as the lengths of gates of present character range from 12 to 16 ft. a considerable board expanse is presented to the. wind, with, a consequent tendency to swingthe gate from alinement with its coing strain on, the gate pivot.

I It is therefore, one important ob ect of I my invention to provide an operating mechanism for a vertically movable gate, wherein the'gate body is sufliciently braced to with- 5.

. Afur'ther important object resides in the having-its parts arranged for movement in provision of, a gate operating mechanism suclimanner that banking of snow adjacent j the gate will not interfere in any manner I ts . with-"the ready operation thereof.

A still further obie'et resides in' the ron- Specification of Letters Patent.

acting fence portions, and to impart a break- I Patented Apr. 1, 1919.

Application filed'J'uly 30, 1918. Serial No. 247,370.

sion in a gate operating mechanism of this character adapted for use in connection with parallel stretches of fence, wherein the gate extends transversely between the fence stretches, of an arrangement wherein the fence stretches are interrupted at opposite portions of minimum width for movement of the gate ends thereinto in closing.

In common with other devices of this character, I contemplate the employment of counterweights to assist in raising and lowering movements of the gate, and inasmuch 'as the amount of force necessary to produce lifting movement of the gate varies considerably throughout the extent of such lifting movement, and is comparatively slight adjacent the upper limit of lifting movement, a still further object of my invention is to compensate for this variation, to insure an even operating movement of the gate, and it is particularly 'my object to provide an arrangement wherein the power exerted by the counterweight structure is varied in swinging movement of the gate.

A still further object resides in the provision of an operating mechanism of this character which maybe most readily associated with a gate body of conventional nature.

With the above and other objects and advantages in view, my invention resides more particularly in the novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts which will be hereinafter described and pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings, the figure is a perspective view of my gate operating mechanism, with the gate in partially raised position.

Referring now more particularly to the accompanying drawings, A and B designate respectivelv stretches of fence extending in parallel relation beside the roadway, the stretches being interrupted at opposite portions by gate receiving spaces between pairs of adjacent fence posts 5.

My improved operating mechanism is preferably employed in conjunction with a gate body of'entirely conventional nature and comprising the end rails 7, and the longitudinal top, bottom and intermediate rails. 8, 9 and 10 respectively.

Disposed substantially in alinement with the gate receiving portions of the fence stretches, and. spaced from one of. the pairs offnce posts 5' is a post 11 which is of considerably greater height than the height of the gate. Disposed at one side of the post 11- and spaced from the adjacent fence stretch a distance substantially equal to the spacing of the post 11 is a post 12 which is connected with the post 11' by suitable brace bars 13; Secured to the gate' and extending outwardly from'its top rail 8 1n substantial alinement therewith is a rail 1e which is secured by a hinge 15 to the post 11 atsubstantially the plane of the top of the gate. Secured also to the top rail 8 adjacent its other end, which for convenience may be termed its front end, is a second rail 16 and this rail 16 exte-ndsdiv'en gently rearwardly in the plane of the gate top and is secured by a hinge 17 to the top of the post 12. Abrace bar 18 extends at substantially. right angles from the top ra1l 8 of the gate adjacent its rear end and is secured to the intersecting portion of the rail 16 and a brace bar 19 extends from a corresponding portion of the lower gate rail 9 to this, securing point. A third brace bar 20 extends from the securing point of the other. bars diagonally and inwardly with respect to the gate and is secured to the lower rail adjacent its forward end.

, An eXceedingly simple and practical pivot mounting. has thus been provided which may be readily secured to a conventional gate body. In the lowered position of the gate, its end portions are disposed between the pairs of posts 5, with the brace structure disposed between the fence stretches and spaced, therefrom a suflicient distance to provide clearance in upward swinging move-' ment. The location of the gate pivot a considerable distance laterally of the fence, however, necessitates buta very slight clearance space so that the brace structure may extend throughout substantially the entire portion of the gate between the fence stretches to afford a maximum strength. In the closing position'of the gate, the rail 16 extends above the fence stretch which it traverses, and thus the fence stretches are interrupted for distances equal only to the width of the gate body. The distance between the posts 11 and 12 varies in accordance with the length of gate employed, being preferably approximately one-third of the length of the gate. Thus, a pivotal: connection is afiorded for the gateat widely separated points whereby theleverage exerted by lateral wind pressure upon the gate, is reduced and whereby the gate is positively heldagainst anylateral swinging movement, such. slight movements as may occur being compensated for by upstanding oppositely curved guide arms 21 onthe gate posts remote from the pivot of the gate. It will be further noted that the swinging movement of the gate and allits connected parts is directly upwardly. Thus the positive operation of tlie 'gate is insured, regardless of the amount of snow that may be banked there adjacent, it being noted that in lifting movement 1 of the gate," no packing action of snow could possibly occur.

Taking up now means for procuring swinging movement of the gate, a pair of posts are positioned along the roadway at suf ficiently remotedistances on opposite sides of the gate and loosely suspended from an arm 23 on each of these posts, and from cross arm 24 on the top of the post 11 are pulleys 25. Cables 26 are secured to a common point at the inner portionof theitop" rail 8 of the gate, and each is trained around one of the pulleys of the cross arm and around the corresponding, pulley of onefof the ,post arms 23 and is secured to a counterbalance weight 27. Thus upon pulling downwardly upon the cable and'weight, the gate will he swung upwardly to raisedxposition. Depending from each weight is a second cable 28 carrying asecond counter weight 29, and the lengths of these second cables 28 are such that when the gate has been partially swung to raised position, the weights 29 willrest upon the ground. Thus, in the initial portions of the raising movement of the gate, the'combined forces of the weights 27 and 29 are employed to assist such raising movement, but in the latter por tion of the raising movement, the force of the weights 2'? only is employed, and thus compensation is provided for the varying force required in raising the gate due to the constantly shifting leverage, whereby an even raising operation may be insured. For

lowering the. gate, cables are secured to the weights 2'? and are trained about pulleys 31 secured to the tops of the posts22, theremaining ends of the cables 30 being preferably attached to grip rings 32. The intermediate portlon of the post 11 is provided with an inwardly extending abutment 83 engageable by the gate to prevent its inward swinging movement to a point'at which it.

would be difficult to institute lowering movement of the gate. Also to facilitate'the 1nstitution of lowering movement of the gate,

a weight 34 is secured to the lower forward corner of the gate to dispose its center of gravity at a maximum distance fromthe post when in raised position, this weight being, of course, not sufficient to add mate'- rially to the amount of force necessary in r-aising the gate.

To prevent the cables 30 from? becoming entangled whenever they are slack, and possibly, with possibledisplacement from their pulley grooves, weights '35 are secured to. their intermediate portions, being, disposed ad acent the pulleys 31 on the outer stretchesof the cable when the gate is raised and serving to hold the cabletaut, particularly upon engagement of the. grip rings 32. with 'ture particularly designed to meet the strain "most adverse weather conditions.

a which may? be most readily installed and which will operate efliciently even under the I am aware that the idea of a vertically swinging a I ona horizontal axis.

gate is old, and in various types of gates heretofore contemplated, a two point pivot support may have been provided for the gate I am not, however,

aware of any arran ement wherein such a support has been embodied in a gate strucof laterallwind pressure under practical conil fence, in which ing a post, a second post considerably shorter body,

, portions ditions.

- While I have shown my gate as adapted for closing the spacebetween two parallel stretches of fence, it will be appreciated that the gate may as well be employed for closing a roadway gap and a single line of instance the line of fence would extend parallel to the plane of the gate and would be interrupted at the end of the gate. when in lowered position, one of each pair of posts 5 forming the end stretches and the remaining posts being idle, serving merely as guides.

What is claimed is: v 1. A gate operating mechanism comprising a pair ofspaced posts, hinges on said posts in horizontal alinement, a gate body, a

rail extending from one end portion of the gate body and secured to one of the hinges, a

second rail extending from the other end divergently with respect thereto toward said first named end portion and projected therepast and secured to the other hinge, means connecting the intermediate portions of the second named rail with the gate body and means for raising and lowering the gate body on said hinges.

2. A gate operating mechanism compristhan the first named post and spaced therefrom, hinges secured to the upper end of the second named post and to the horizontally alined portion of the first named post, a gate a rail extending from one end portion ofthe gate body and secured to the hinge of f the first named post, a second rail extending I Copies of this patent may be obtained for divergently from the other end portion of the gate body toward the first named end portion and projected therepast, and secured to'the other hinge, means connecting the first named end portion of the gate body with the intermediate portion of the second named rail, pulleys carried by the upper end portion of the first named post, and cables secured to the gate body and trained around said pulleys for controlling swinging move ment of the gate body.

3. A gate operating mechanism comprising a pair of spaced posts, a pair of hor1- zontally alined hinges carried by said posts,

a gate body, a rail extending from one end portion of the gate body substantially in alinement with the top of the gate and secured to one of the hinges, a diagonal brace bar extending from the bottom of said end portion of the gate body and connected with the first named rail, a rail extending from the upper corner of the other end portion of the gate body divergently with respect to the gate body toward the first named end portion and projected therepast and secured to the other hinge, brace bars extending from the remaining corner portions of the gate body to the intermediate portion of said second named rail and means for raising and lowering the gate body.

4. The combination with a pair of parallel fence sections having gate receiving spaces therein at opposite portions of a post disposed substantially in alinement with said spaces, of a gate body having its end portions adapted to lie within the spaces of the fence stretches, a rail extending from one upper corner of the gate body and hinged to the post, a second post spaced from the first post, a second rail extending from the other corner portion of the gate body obliquely over the intervening fence stretch in lowered position of the gate and hinged to the second named post in horizontal alinement with the hinge of the first rail, brace bars connecting the intermediate portion of the second named rail and lower portions of the gate body,

the county of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin.

JOSEPH C. HERRMANN.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

